every single day I think about how american black vultures are known for engaging in allopreening (preening between different species)
and they have a specific relationship with crested caracaras, in which the black vultures assist them by not only preening them after meals but also leading them to food in the first place— due to their superior sense of smell— while the caracaras assist the black vultures by acting as a warning signal in case of danger
and while this is more typical of black vultures, this is not common at all for any member of the falconidae family— it’s a special bond!
yet another post in favor of vultures everyone , hope you enjoy:) and I implore you to do some more research on these incredible birds !!
Getting into birds is so funny because I’ll be like “oh that was a red bellied woodpecker and I thought it was a northern flicker I was a FOOL! How could I mix them up???” And then you show the pictures in your guidebook to a non bird person and they are like “👀 are you telling me that’s not the same type of bird?”
American Woodcock demonstrates "distal rhynchokinesis," the ability to flex the end of its bill. This allows it to grab earthworms it encounters when probing in soil. Other shorebirds, including Dunlins & Sanderlings, can bend their bills in this way. 😃
it’s devastating to me that the bird flu’s main news coverage has resulted from 1. death of charismatic mammals like seals and sea lions 2. impacts on commercial farmers losing mass quantities of poultry. we have lost millions of wild birds in the blink of an eye and nobody seems to care unless it can be correlated to human profit or interest